Wonder and See
by Ninjas Wear Sneakers
Summary: Peter Parker is surprised to see Tony Stark as his new cellmate when he's captured by some men, not because he's Spider-Man, but because he's Peter Parker, the person who helped with the formula that turned Dr. Connors into a giant Lizard. Tony begins to warm up to Peter and Peter breaks into a world of superheroes. No slash.
1. Meeting

He was dying. That's what it felt like anyways. Usually, it's not as bad as this. Sometimes he would get bruises and cuts, then he would blame it on bullies or a random mugging to his aunt May and quickly retreat to his room, only to come out the next day with barely any injuries at all, but _this… this was different. _His ankle was _aching _like someone had just whacked it with a hammer, and he felt like someone had just decided to throw a rave party in his head without even asking. In other words, I think it's safe to say, Peter felt like crap, and this time it wasn't because he was Spider-Man… it was because he was Peter Parker, the very Peter Parker that helped Dr. Conners turn into a giant freak.

He never thought it would be his secret identity to get him into trouble, the very reason he wore a mask was because he didn't want to get into trouble. It was weird, seeing the gears grinding backwards in his life now, so he's forced to play the part or else someone will make a connection with his masked opposite.

"Put him with the other one." He hears a man say, and suddenly he's being lifted up from his awkward position against the wall and pushed up to his feet. It _hurt. _He was forced to walk on his sprained ankle into another room entirely, where he sees a figure lying limply in the corner. He figures it's someone like him, or a dead person. He wouldn't be surprised if it was either, but it doesn't matter because now apparently this person huddling in the corner was his cellmate for the time being.

"Alright, let's get out of here. Boss wants us."

When they leave he lets go a shaky breath he didn't know he was holding in. This was a dangerous position he was in. He knows they know about aunt May, and no doubt will they use it to threaten him for… whatever they wanted with him. All he knew was that he was here because they knew he had helped Dr. Conners create the formula that formed his significant slimy opposite.

Well… after claiming the corner opposite of his cellmate, he lets his head drop against the wall. It is then that he gets to examine the person across from him, when listening closely he could hear raspy breaths and shudders escape from the individual. Nice. He's alive. That's great. Now he won't be lonely. Right? If the man could even talk that is, who knew what happened to him. How did he even come to be here anyways? Maybe he should ask him. Maybe… that wouldn't be a good idea… actually… what if the guy was a psycho crazy person?

"K-Kid."

It's just a whisper, but Peter hears it. The voice belongs to a man, he realizes, and when the man lifts up his head to look over his shoulder Peter can say that he's _genuinely surprised _to see the face of the person staring at him. Tony. Tony Stark. Tony Stark with bruises and cuts all over his face that made Peter just want to shake in his skin.

_Man. What happened to him?_

"Yes?" He says, and he's rather surprised how normal his voice sounds despite being in incredible pain.

"W-W… What… d-day…" Tony seems to be having trouble speaking, and he looks like he _really _wants to finish the sentence. Peter knows what he means though, he's probably asking what day it is… and the only thing he remembered was it being December, two weeks before Christmas hit them all in the face. He could already hear the carols ringing in his ears.

"Two weeks. Before Christmas." He says because he doesn't know which day of the month is numbered today. Tony nods. Peter stares at Tony and it occurs to him that he probably would have never had seen this weak state of a billionaire who was known to go out with women and drink booze rather than work responsibly as a CEO if he hadn't ever helped Dr. Conners turn himself into a Lizard.  
>Funny how things went huh?<p>

"Excuse me for asking, but… why are you here Mr. Stark?"  
>Tony shudders at the name; Peter is afraid to say anymore.<p>

"J-Just c-..call me Tony."

Peter nods. Yeah. Tony. He's now on a first name basis with one of the smartest men on Earth, as much as he would like to fanboy… he's not exactly in the best spot to fanboy at all.

"I'm here…. b-because t...they want s-something, I- I don't remember."

Man. If Peter were in Tony's shoes right now, he wouldn't be so proud of the state he would be in right now, talking to some kid on the other side of the cell.

"W-What about you?"

Peter feels guilty he didn't ask about how Tony was _feeling _because the man was stuttering immensely. He answers anyways, "Not sure if I should be telling you, it's… a personal matter."

Geez, talk about Peter being a jerk. Could you possibly do any better? But despite this, Tony nods in understanding.

"I'm Peter." He tries.

"T-Tony S...Stark…. but you k-know that already."

Peter narrows his eyes.

"Tony. Where are you hurting?"

Tony narrows his eyes too and it's obvious he doesn't want to reveal his weakest points to some kid he just met, but… really… if he wanted to get out of here _alive _he would probably have to deal with it.

"R-Ribs. Hurts."

Brokens or bruised ribs? Great. Poor Tony. Peter could sympathize because as a masked vigilante… he got multiple injuries everywhere.

"... Sorry."

Tony stares at Peter. He knows Peter can't do much for him, but Tony just nods, biting his bottom lip in pain.  
>Now this was a sight to behold. One he would prefer <em>not <em>to see.

"G-Got a family kid?"

Peter nods. Yeah. His aunt. She's pretty awesome, she makes kickass sandwiches and she's pretty spectacular. She could throw a punch, she had awesome cooking skills, and what else was there to say? She was _awesome _and she would be _dead _if he didn't see this through.

"My aunt."

Tony shifts and sits up against the wall and Peter thinks it's to grasp a better look of Peter. He probably looked like a mess because… well… he felt like a mess. He could feel his moppy hair sit against his head sadly, and he could feel the dry dirt all over his face.

"P-Parents?"

He shakes his head, Tony smiles. Weird.

"Me nei-ither."

Ah. Oh. OH. He had never even thought of Tony's parents ever. I mean, he did know that his parents existed some part in some point of time but he _really didn't know anything about them _other than the fact that they were now deceased. Poor Tony. But he probably doesn't want Peter to pity him, he knows, because Peter doesn't want Tony to pity him either.

They spent the rest of the day in silence.

* * *

><p>When Tony was pushed out of the cell and returned with a black eye and a hand around his side… he knew that the encounter with their captors probably didn't end well. He doesn't know what they were interrogating him for… but he actually doesn't want to know. He's too busy finding a way how to keep his aunt alive and more importantly <em>himself <em>alive so he could take care of his aunt.

It's when the guards came in that he knew it was his turn.

He's pushed up to his feet once again, and that's when he meets Tony's eyes staring into his. Like a child, it occurs to him, he's not even sure if this is the same Tony Stark he's heard about.  
>He looks away and is pushed out just in the manner Tony was pushed out earlier, by rough hands.<p>

Today, he notes, he is introduced into a new room. It's white, like the rooms you would keep a psychotic man in, and there's a table in the middle waiting for him.

He's forced to sit down.

And it hurts.

"Peter."

He looks up and is found to be in eye contact with his captor, a man with a gruff beard and a scar over his nose. It would be wise not to ask where it came from, he figures, so his mouth stays shut.

"I'm Steward."

Such a normal name but so was Peter. Was that even his name though? Maybe Steward was just some cover up. His name was probably much more intimidating than that.

"Hi." Peter manages to say.

"Do you know why you're here?"

Yes. Of course he knew he was here.

"Dr. Conners."

The man nods.

"Yes. You helped him out with the formula… and we _want _that formula, so would you be so kind to give it to us?"

Hah. Give the formula to a man who was holding a super hero captive and a wimpy kid? He thinks not.

"No."

Steward twitches. He must have a short patience like all of the villains he's faced so far, well, other than Doctor Doom who had enough patience to plan out entire genius plans, but he didn't face Doctor Doom often because Doctor Doom was a Fantastic Four villain. They had it covered.

"What do you mean _no?_ Are you aware of the situation you are in?"

A nod. Steward growls.

"Well _Peter._" He spats, saying his name with such conviction, "Maybe we can change your mind."

Peter wants to bark a laugh. He obviously didn't know who Peter was but who was he to expect this idiot knew his alternate identity? Besides, the good cop suddenly turned roughly into a bad cop, obviously… some hurting was involved.

* * *

><p>He slumps against the wall and it's painful. His back is stinging, his hands are on fire, and it hurts to take deep breaths. Maybe it's because of all of the punches in his gut, which were probably the cause of a big nasty bruise he could feel forming.<p>

Now he knows how Tony feels.  
>Torture sucked.<p>

"What did they do to you?"

Tony seems healthier today, Peter even sees bandages around Tony's shirtless back, and he's slightly relieved to see it. He wanted to help Tony earlier, but he didn't have anything to really help Tony out with. He was completely useless.  
>Peter then eyes Tony's weird blue glowing thing on his chest he thought was only on his suits.<br>Weird.

"I… Punches. Kicks." He manages to mumble, his eyes are drifting now and he's feeling oddly drowsy. He wants Gwen and he wants to lay his head on her lap while she's threading her fingers through his hair lovingly like on that one date they had when they went to go check out the fireworks on New Years. Thinking of it though just made him miss Gwen even more and he missed being healthy. It's weird how you never really appreciate your health until you catch a cold and feel stupidly miserable. That's how he felt now. Maybe Tony felt like that too.

"Bastards." Tony spats. Peter grins. It's nice to see Tony talking more, maybe he'll even get to know the guy, and if they got out of this… maybe later in life Tony can point at him and say something like, "Hey that's the guy who was tortured with me!"

That was one hell of a way to make a friend.

"So." Tony states, looks like he wants to make conversation, "How old are you?"  
>A basic question Peter knows he can answer, and he's thankful for that.<p>

"Sixteen."  
>Tony flinches, it's almost as if Peter just attacked him telepathically.<p>

"You're… young."

Peter laughs.

"Yep. Younger than you Tony."

Tony gasps.

"Well! I'll tell you that I am not _old._I'm still in my Thirties!"

"Which is old."

"Which is the new twenty!" He counters.

Peter grins and even though he can taste the blood seeping through his gums, plastering itself to his teeth, he feels that his smile is a genuine one.

"So… aren't you the leader of the new Avengers?" He asks, because the Avengers had just formed and destroyed a whole entire alien race. Besides, as stupid as the question might be, he just wants to make conversation.

"Yeah. Iron Man." Tony points to himself.

Yeah. Spider-Man. Peter is tempted to say, but he won't say it. It's a dangerous business being a vigilante. No telling of the identity, even if it's to a superhero bro.

"What's it like?"

"What's what like?"

"What's it like… flying around in a suit saving people?" He tries again.

Tony shrugs.

"It's… fine. I mean, it saves people, and it even protects me."

Peter can't relate. He doesn't have a metal suit, but what he does relate to is the _saving people _part. He saves people because he doesn't want what happened to his uncle Ben happening to anyone else. He doesn't need to see it again.

"I have to give it upgrades time from time, but cap keeps telling me I should start training physically and stop relying on my suits." Tony chuckles, and his eyes are filled with fondness.

"What's it like working with Captain America?"

Tony smirks.  
>"He's one hell of a fighter, I got to tell him that if I make it out."<p>

_If. _

"He probably hasn't even noticed I'm gone."  
><em>Okay. Now that was sad.<em>

Peter, now that he had thought about it, probably had the police out looking for him because he was 'normal' in the eyes of the public. He probably had a newspaper article about him by now. Tony probably had one too, knowing that he was a popular figure. Actually, he probably had millions of articles about him, just not one single article.

"I'm sure he's looking for you."  
>Tony stares at Peter, all hope is lost in his expression. It's a sad sight to behold.<br>"Yeah. We had a fight before this. Think he'll be too angry to go looking for me."

Oh man. He wasn't good with these kind of things. He really didn't have a lot of friends to yell at or to even argue with, so giving advice was not his forte, especially if that advice is for the cocky Iron Man. But… he wasn't so cocky anymore. He looked so empty sitting in his corner.

He hears a door rattle, and a man comes in dropping two plates in front of Peter and Tony, and walks away without even looking at them.  
>"Breakfast is served." Tony grumbles, picking up the plate and wincing at the horrid food. Peter knows though that he needs to eat, so even if Tony pushes it away he'll go over there and force him to eat it.<br>Which is weird. I know. Not many people get the chance to force feed Tony Stark.  
>Peter though picks up his own plate and sees a disgusting blob of oddity staring back at him. This was suicide. Did they actually expect him to eat this? Well, he had to stay alive… and staying alive meant eating.<p>

_And water. Which he had not had in a day. _

Now that he thought about it, his throat was crying in dryness, it was _not _a nice feeling. The human body could only survive three days without water, just going one day without water and eating dry food at that would just make it even worse.

What were they even trying to do?  
>Looks like he'll find out whether he likes it or not.<p>

He looks over to Tony, who was attempting to eat even though it looked like he was about to throw up. I guess Peter would have to try too and while he attempts to eat as well… he thinks since Tony Stark, the genius of the two didn't have a plan to escape, that it was up to Peter to haul the load for the two and take responsibility.  
>Wouldn't his uncle be proud?<p>

* * *

><p>Peter's only awake because Tony is kicking around in the cell. He's thrashing around, mumbling a series of <em>no's <em>in his sleep, and it is then that Peter realizes he's probably having a nightmare.  
>He breaks the boundaries between the two corners and stumbles to Tony's side. When he makes his way to his knees he shakes Tony, and Tony shoots up into the air.<p>

"You were having a nightmare."

Peter watches Tony wheezing heavily and he awkwardly looks around. He's not really good with these things.  
>"Thanks."<br>That's new. He never thought Tony would ever say _thank you _to some lame kid on the streets.  
>"You're welcome."<p>

* * *

><p>"How's school?" Tony asks after greedily drinking the bottle of water that was tossed to him earlier that day. One bottle of water still wasn't enough.<br>"I guess it okay." Peter said with a weary voice, his injuries are starting to heal and he can barely feel his sprained ankle anymore. Healing factor: 1. He _really _likes his powers now. They're freaking awesome.  
>"You like any of your subjects?" Tony asks.<p>

"Yeah." Peter answers. "Science."  
>And his girlfriend. But she's not a subject in school to learn about.<br>"Oh? A science geek? You going to college?"

Peter wonders about that. He's reminded of the intern position Harry's dad gave him before he turned into a maniac and he just shrugs.  
>"I dunno'. I guess."<br>Tony says nothing.

* * *

><p>"The formula!" Steward hisses, his guard holding tightly onto Peter's wrist, and Peter keeps in a muffle of pain as he nearly breaks his wrist.<br>"WHAT IS IT!?"

"I'll never tell you."

He got a slap in return.

* * *

><p>"I'm Dr. Fin." He hears the man say, and he nods. So this was the man who treated Tony's injuries earlier that week? Cool. At least there's someone taking care of him.<br>"Looks like you've got a cracked wrist and a few bruised ribs, you're going to have to rest for a while."

_Tell that to his captors. _

"And is this... a... knife wound? Are you having suicidal thoughts Mr. Parker?"

Hah. He wishes.

* * *

><p>When Tony comes back this time, he has a black eye, and it's a pretty nasty one at that. He's shoved towards the ground, and the guards that were holding him earlier leave without warning, leaving Tony to struggle getting up by himself only to stumble to his corner.<br>_He looks horrible._  
>Peter probably looks horrible too.<p>

"You okay man?"

He hears a grunt. Tony is saying he's okay, but he's not. Peter knows this.  
>"You don't look so good."<br>"You know, you never told me your last name." Tony struggles to say, it's a subject change and Peter will play along for now.  
>"Oh. Yeah. Last names aren't that interesting are they?"<p>

Tony leans against the wall again.  
>"Well, they are to me. C'mon. Tell me. I won't laugh if it's something that sounds completely weird and foreign."<p>

Peter hesitates.

"Parker."

Peter can see Tony's eyes widen, and then he can _hear _the gears clicking in Tony's head. Everything was setting into place.  
>"The... Parker kid? I... I knew your parents."<br>We learn something new each day don't we?  
>"But... how do you even know I'm <em>that <em>Parker kid? There's probably hundreds of kids with the same name as me in this world."  
>Tony smiles.<br>"There's only one Parker and he's one hell of a kid."

It felt nice to hear that.

* * *

><p><em>Thanks for reading so far guys. Reviews are my fuel for writing, and also whether you like it or not I'm continuing this. xD<br>__By the way, I own nothing, in case you haven't noticed... and grammar and spelling mistakes are nootttt on purpose! I swear! See any mistakes? Point it out! I gotta' fix them before I embarrass myself to bits!  
><em>_I don't know how long this fanfiction is going to be, but I planning to put a lot of time into it. _


	2. Escape

_It was an honest surprise when I saw like 50 emails in my inbox. I was like, "Is someone spamming me?" And then I see lots and lots of people have followed, favorited, and reviewed this story. I honestly didn't think it would be that popular I mean, it's just the first chapter! Thank you guys so much because this means a lot to me._

_To Seekinglove: I looked at your stories and you have a fabulous style of writing! Your writing style is unique and it really really is pretty awesome. I personally am never happy with my writing but as a wise person once said, "True artists are never satisfied." Thank you for the compliment, it means a lot to me!_

_To youngjusticefanatic: Holy crap it is an honor to have your review on this story. I mean, I ABSOLUTELY adore your stories! Thank you for taking the time to review the last chapter!_

_To Ceg99: Holy crap, you just predicted the next chapter. I was in the mid of writing it until I read your review and I was like,"Whoops." But yeah, enjoy xD_

_To my followers:Thanks guys! Without further ado, I'll start the next chapter. Please be patient with me! Also, grammar and spelling mistakes are not intended on purpose! If you spot one, point it out so I don't embarrass myself to bits! I'm not so good with proof reading._

* * *

><p>Peter feels like a spider in it's spider web, watching everything, waiting, never moving, because that's all he ever does anymore. He has to wait to be beaten up, wait to gather more information on his location, wait for Tony to come back to see if he's alright, and wait for the moment they would finally use the aunt May card. He knows it's coming.<p>

_Hurts. Pain. Bruises. Sting._

The knife wound he had gotten earlier was bandaged and disinfected by Dr. Rin or whatever his name is. Dr. Fin? Was that it? He's forgotten already. The only name he can remember so far is Steward, and that might not even be the man's name. But that doesn't matter now, what matters is that he's here now, with a sad looking Tony curling up on the ground.

Unfortunately, all Peter can do is give Tony some conversation, and keep him awake. It probably wouldn't be good to sleep now, not when he's injured so badly.

Yeah. He has bruises all over his face and blood running down his nose. He looks like he just got pounded by a sumo wrestler.

"Tony. That thing on your chest, what is it?"

He noticed it before. It's a weird orb thing in his skin that glows blue. He has concluded it's something important since it was stuck in his chest, why else would you stick an orb in your chest? Decoration? Ah I see, someone would want to be their own personal Christmas tree, is that it? What a sick joke.

But nevertheless, Tony looks over at Peter, and takes a long good hard look at Peter. At this moment, Peter decides he probably looks like bull crap. His hair, greasier than it's ever been in his whole entire life, and sticky with blood probably didn't look all that attractive. Neither did the facial hair he was growing after a few days of not shaving. Ugh. He probably smelled like a skunk or a corpse. No, scratch that, corpses smelled way worse than Peter could ever smell.

"It keeps me alive." He replies. He doesn't want to go any deeper into it. Peter sees this and decides not to ask anymore. He's treading in deep waters now. No going back.

"Oh." Was the best Peter could come up with. Despite having had interesting conversations with Tony as his cellmate he doesn't really know anything about the man, and he doesn't know much about Peter either. Maybe if they get out of this, they could become friends, and Peter could swing his arm around his shoulder without being called a creep for being a complete stranger.

"So what's that in your side?"

Tony is talking about the knife wound that's bandaged up. It's a disgusting thing to look at once seen.

"A deep cut." He mumbles, automatically pulling a hand to his side. One of Steward's goons thought it would be funny to hear Peter shake in terror. Peter didn't give him the pleasure. But he did suppress in a yelp, that probably would have caused him even more trouble had he let it out.

"The doctor treat it?" Tony asks and he actually seems worried for Peter. Well, if Peter died, he figures Tony won't have anyone to talk to anymore. Maybe that's what Tony really wanted out of Peter, a kid to talk to. Someone to share his experiences of torture with.

"Yeah."

Tony sighs. He looks tired. He probably is tired. Peter is tired too. He can't sleep without a guard suddenly whacking him on the shoulder to purposefully wake him up and stress him out.

He's had better days than this.

"Does it hurt?"

A weird question. Why would Tony ask that? He almost feels like Tony suddenly put on the fatherhood cap, and now he was treating Peter like some six year old who had just scraped his knee trying to ride a bicycle. It was a weird image in Peter's head. He won't share it with Tony this time.

"Yeah." He says again. Yes yes he knows he has to work on better replies. His one-worded answers were getting pretty old by now. He's gotta' fix that.

"Sorry."

Ugh. Who was this person giving him apologies? Surely not Tony Stark? He needs to man up. If he mans up, he might just think of an escape plan and BOOM they were out of there. He needed the smart Tony Stark, the genius Tony Stark, not the 'i've given up' Tony stark. That's not the man he's looking for. He wants to tell this all to Tony but something inside him pleads not to because Tony was more hurt than he looked. Maybe… just maybe something happened to him before Peter ever got captured by the weird men with a white van. Maybe they did something, broke his spirit.

He has to help him. It's up to him.

"Don't be."

Tony says nothing and Peter takes the silence to think of ways to talk to Tony about his plan he was forming on escape. If no one came to save them, he would have to save the both of them.

"Have you ever thought of escaping?"

Tony looks at Peter. Again with those weary eyes.

"Yeah but… it never worked. The only hope I have now is to wait for someone to rescue us."

_Us. He said us. They're in a team._

"What if it takes that someone years to find us? What if we're dead by the time they find us?"

"Where are you going with this Peter?"

_Good. He caught on._

"I mean, lets escape this dump Tony. We can just sit around and wait for something to happen."

Tony raises a brow. He seems interested, nice.

"How do you suggest we do it?"

_HAH. Caught you on the hook Tony. No flopping around now._

But anyways… Peter had a plan, yes, but he's not sure how to explain it to Tony because he'll be using the spider powers he had kept hidden for a whole week. How was he going to tell him that he was going to probably strangle one of the guards when he came in and force his way out the rest of the way? With his spidey sense at hand, he could dodge almost anything they had for him, even guns, but Tony on the other hand is something else entirely. He didn't have a spidey sense so somehow… he would have to string Tony along with him and still look like a normal human being at the same time.

"You won't need to do anything… except… I need you to… trust me."

Trust the kid you haven't known for more than a week. Maybe he'll teach you a thing or two. He knows it's a tall order but he needs Tony's trust in order to do this. Besides, he needs to get out not only for him or for Tony but for his aunt who he needed to see if she was alright.

"I'll trust you if you tell me why they're torturing you." Tony claims. Peter furrows his brows.  
>"In that case, you'll need to tell me why they're torturing you Stark."<p>

Tony flinches at the use of his last name. Yes, that's right, some deep crud is going to go down here. Peter was serious about this, he wasn't playing around anymore.

"You go first." Tony insists

"No, you." Peter says simply, that's all it has to be. A simple phrase. No need to complicate things.

Tony gives out a loud exasperated sigh and Peter smiles in triumph.

"Fine. They…" Tony hesitates.

Tony looks to the side, avoiding Peter's careful eyes.

"I'm not sure if I should be telling you this, it's top secret info. You know, government stuff."

"It doesn't matter." Peter says. From what he can gather now, Tony had been lying. He wonders if he'll be able to trust Tony later.

"Well, the group holding us, the people… They're from a secret organization called HYDRA. I was battling them a month ago, and they managed to grab me out of the air and capture me. After that... they decided to take me in and then they started interrogating me on the weaknesses of the Avengers and S.H.I.E.L.D another organization."

Okay Peter, take it all in like a sponge and don't let it seep out. This was important information. HYDRA? He's heard of it before but where? He's heard someone talking about but who? Was his memory supposed to be this faulty? No use relying on it then, not at the moment.

At least Peter knows why Tony's captured now. It's his turn but he really doesn't want to say anything about how he helped create a villain. Would he think of him differently? Would his trust for Peter evaporate? Did the trust even exist? Would he be considered a monster? Wasn't he already a monster? Wh-  
>"Peter. Breathe."<p>

Tony's at his side. Why is Tony at his side?  
>"Deep breaths Peter. Come on. I didn't know that it was this deep of a subject, I'm sorry. We can talk about it later i-"<br>"No. I'll tell you."  
>He's gotta' keep his end of the deal after all. What kind of person would he be if he didn't hold his end of the deal? Peter is a better person than that and he'll show Tony.<p>

"I… ugh where do I start?"  
>No, seriously, where would he start? Uncle Ben? No that's too far back. OSCORP? Spider? No, not the spider. Dr. Connors, his father's work, the documents he found, the formula.<p>

"Okay well, you know how my parents are the Parkers?"

A nod. Good.

"Right, well, my father was working on something. I found research papers and soon after that I met Dr. Connors, he apparently worked with my father once and he was working on an incomplete formula to turn him into…"  
>Does he dare say it?<p>

"The Lizard. The one Spider-Man fought."

He said it. He let it out.

"I helped him complete the formula, and he used it on himself to see if it would regrow limbs. It…"

He doesn't want to think about it. Make it stop.

"Didn't work out." He finishes, "They're torturing me for the formula."

Okay, this is it, the moment Peter has been waiting for. He looks up, not even realizing he had been avoiding Tony's eye contact the entire time, and examines the face of Tony Stark. His cellmate. His friend.  
>Please don't think any differently.<p>

"Kid." He starts. "It's okay."

Tony is still close to him, he hadn't retreated back to his corner, and it's honestly a little relieving. Tony's the only reliable person here.  
>"W-What?" Peter manages to say. He sounds like a broken record he bets. He doesn't even realize how watery his eyes were until he reaches up to rub them. Was this what Tony saw? A crying Peter Parker? Him at his weakest point?<br>He never cried before. Well, he's never really told anyone. He's kept it in for so _damn_ long.

"Thanks. Peter. For telling me."

Man. Tony looks so… I don't know… what was the word he was looking for? Caring? Eww no. Caring sounded weird. He's not like a caring mother, no definitely not. It's just nice to hear his voice, like he had been through it all before even though he really hadn't.

Tony grins a stupid smile. This is the Tony he wanted to know.

"Okay kid." He pats him roughly on the back, Peter pretends the bruises aren't there and that it doesn't hurt. Instead, he smiles, at the small attempt of affection. "Let's talk about this plan of yours. What's in that head of yours?"

"Like I said earlier, I need you to trust me and just follow what I do. I promise, it'll all make sense later."

Tony shrugs.  
>"Sure kid."<p>

Peter widens his eyes.

"Seriously?"

"Yeah. Seriously."

"Okay Tony, just one question."

Tony looks up at him.

"Where's your armor? Do you know where they put it?"

This could be necessary for later. If he can escape, find the armor, give it to Tony, it'll be great. They could just blast a hole in the ceiling and get out of there. They wouldn't even need a door.

Tony furrows his brows, it looks like he's thinking hard. Peter won't interrupt.

"Well... when they were leading me into another room... I looked into a room, it's upstairs by the way, and saw a series of tools along with pieces of my armor. Maybe it's in there. Maybe they were... trying to dissect my armor."  
>A flash of anger wipes across Tony's face. Rule #1 involving Tony in Peter's book of rules, don't mess with his toys.<p>

"Okay, we'll start when the guard comes in to give us that horrid food for lunch. That's it."

All in the life of Peter Parker.

* * *

><p>They waited. In silence, might I add. After discussing the necessary details, both of them fell silent... waiting for the moment the guard would come in with food. Thinking of food now, Peter feels hungry. Hungry and thirsty. Now that he thinks of being thirsty he's dizzy and there's a huge headache that was <em>completely <em>natural and not caused by his spidey sense.

It wasn't long. Well, maybe a few hours, but that wasn't a lot to Peter.  
>He had learned, from a guard who had come to inform him earlier, that after lunch... supposedly... Steward was going to interrogate him again. It was not an experience Peter wishes to have, so he won't stick around the moment the guard comes in to give them their plates.<p>

The door rattles, he sits up straighter, wincing because of his side.

A man walks in, he grunts, he puts down a plate of food rather harshly in front of Tony and Peter... and when he turns his back... it's finally Peter's chance to show Tony what he's made out of.

He darts forward, whacking the man on the back of head with his experienced hands, and knocks him out with precision.  
>"Okay, come on."<p>

Tony doesn't have time to ask him questions because surely other guards would start wondering what happened to their little grumpy buddy, so he quickly helps Tony up and swings his arm around his shoulder.  
>Yeah sure, Peter may have a knife wound making things hard for him, but let's look at the bright side. His bruised ribs were finally starting <em>not <em>to hurt because of his healing factor, but at the same time... he knows that walking around when they were healing wasn't exactly healthy, but he _needs _to do this. He _wants _to do this.

Tony struggles to follow Peter to the door, and Peter slowly with struggling fingers opens it... and takes a glance around.  
>Three guards.<br>All have faces of anger.  
>Must be because they would lose their jobs if they let these two men escape.<p>

Ugh. This is going to be hard.

"Right. Can I take a rain check?"

The guards darted at him, ready to dog pile him, so he quickly lets go of Tony knowing fully well that he can hold himself long enough for Peter to take all of these guys out.  
>He trips one man, a foolish man, and punches another one in the gut before quickly dodging a punch aimed towards his head. He punches another one in the jaw who quickly grabs his jaw in pain.<br>**"GRAH!"**  
>It's the one who tripped this time, he's grabbing Peter's leg, but Peter knows better. He kicks him off and kicks him in the head with his spider strength. One down. Two to go.<p>

One lunges at him again as if he hadn't learned his lesson, and Peter bunts him in the head with his own forehead, knocking the man out.

Peter turns around to look for the last one standing, but finds him laying at Tony's feet.  
>Tony wiggles a brow.<p>

"Cap taught me that one."

* * *

><p>"Just. One. More. Step." Peter gasps. He didn't realize how hard it would be supporting a man up the stairs, but it was <em>tiring. <em>He could really use a nap right now.

_"Over there. That room." _Tony whispers. Time to stay quiet so they can sneak through the unguarded hallway. Lucky them.

Peter struggles to carry Tony to the room he was gesturing to, but he makes it there nevertheless and swings the door open, before pushing Tony in and locking it behind him.  
>"Hurry it up. I think we have about five minutes. Someone has had to found all the unconscious guards by now."<p>

Tony grins.  
>"Good job by the way Petey. Didn't know you had it in you! How did you do that anywa-"<br>"Not now."  
>"Right. Sorry. Suit. Got it."<p>

Tony immediately searches the room, and when Peter hears a moan of annoyance he knows something is wrong. If only _one _thing could go right today... that would be really nice. Please mother nature, or those godly forces up there, help a poor little spider _far _away from his spiderweb.

"Found it!" He declares.

"Keep it down! Just put on what you have left. Shoot a hole through the ceiling and fly yourself out."

"What about you?"

"I... I'll climb out."

Tony looks skeptical. He doesn't really know what Peter means and Peter finds it _hilarious_**_._ **  
>"Go weirdo."<br>Tony shrugs and puts on a glove before shooting at the roof and **BOOM**. The ceiling collapses.  
>If no one heard that, he's pretty sure everyone would be deaf in this place. They were going to attract attention more than ever now.<p>

Tony flies out, leaving Peter in the room by himself.  
>He quickly runs to the wall, ready to attach himself to the non-living structure until he heard someone open the door.<p>

Spidey Sense. The ringing in his head. It hurt like hell. The headache didn't help either. How was he supposed to dodge if- No. Too late. He was butted with the back of a gun.  
>Night Night world. Peter Parker is out for the count.<p> 


	3. Memories

_To Lanelle: Hey! Thanks for your review! As for an answer to your question, I saw Captain America use Tony's gloves a boots once… but now that you asked that question it's starting to make no sense and I'm contemplating on whether I should change… I mean, Tony's helmet wasn't working, but I was planning on making his boots and gloves work in __**some way **__because somehow Captain America managed to do it… I think I'll just revise the last chapter xD. _

_To Melancholy's Sunshine: Thanks for making me smile! Your review was hilarious!_

_**To my readers:**_ _So if you hadn't read my answer to Lanelle up above, I'll tell you that I'm going to revise the last chapter so that Tony's armor is all intact instead of him missing parts of it. Grammar and spelling mistakes aren't intended so point out the things that don't make sense. Hopefully I'll change it for the better. I also decided to post this chapter early, in all honesty I was planning to submit this two days later after it was finished... but here it is. I was just so eager to post it. _

* * *

><p>He's heavy. Something is holding him down, straps of leather tied around his wrists and ankles keeping him down against something solid and uncomfortable. There's a seething pain in his side, his wound is unwrapped, and his head <em>pounds <em>like The Hulk had just punched him multiple times into the wall.

Well, he's never really met The Hulk in real life but he can bet getting punched by the green mutated mutant would probably _really hurt. _Have you _seen _how big he is? He's thrice the size of every wrestler Peter has ever seen in his whole entire life.

"Peter. You're awake."

Whoever said that seems happy to see him. Peter can't share the pleasure.  
>He turns to look at the owner of the voice, a foreign man he could not recognize, and Steward standing right next to him. With all of the experience Peter has running around in his veins, he can tell Steward looks pissed. This wasn't going to end nicely, but when has anything ended nicely? Even dates with Gwen ended with him putting on a costume to save his home city and his girl.<p>

"You've given us a lot of trouble."

Well if that wasn't obvious, he wasn't sure what was.

"Our guards say you took them all out. Interesting don't you think? Tell me Peter, are you a boxer? Do you perhaps take Karate classes?"

What kind of questions were these? _Lame. _Please stop boring him to death and let this poor little spider free. He's had enough fun to last a life time.

"No? Not answering? I see. I was just trying to make conversation Peter. Did you know one of our prisoners escaped because of you?"

_Tony. _Relief is sent through his veins and _damn _does it feel good. Maybe this was worth it after all, he got to save a billionaire, and he feels good about it. At least he managed to do one good thing, now there was another hero he could count on to protect his city in his stead. Maybe he'll even come back to rescue him, but maybe he'll be dead by then.

"Well Peter…" The man mumbles before holding up a needle, "I'm an experienced Psychic here to help you relive your memories, this drug you see in my hand will help us with this effort. Don't worry, you'll feel _everything._"

Hmm. Comforting. _Not._

Peter tries to shrink back as much as he can against the metal plate he's laying on, but the man keeps coming closer and closer before injecting him with something Peter presumed to be a sleeping aid, with a touch of HYDRA spice. Tony. Peter could really use his help now, and he means _now _before they find out every single detail of his past. Help.

* * *

><p>"<em>No. Don't."<em>

_Peter turns his head, Gwen is staring at him with menacing eyes, and he shrinks in his shirt._

"_Uh… did I do something wrong?"_

"_You're about to shoot off when you promised me that we could study together Pete! I'm not happy with you Mister!"_

"_I… but… Gwen you have to understand I have a-"_

"_A city to protect. I know. Fine. Leave me here, don't expect any calls from me."_

"_Gwen wait!"_

* * *

><p>"<em>Ugh. Great. What a wonderful way to start off the day."<em>

_Peter trudges out of his school, backpack lazily swinging on his shoulder. He didn't bring his Spider-Man suit with him so he would have to go home to retrieve it if he wanted to make the city any safer. Lucky him. Sure the city might be safer with him hanging around but who would protect him from his girlfriend?_

"_Hey. Kid."_

_Someone puts a hand over his mouth with their black gloved hands and immediately he knows what this is. He's being kidnapped._

* * *

><p>"<em>WHAT IS THE FORMULA?"<em>

"_Scream any louder would you?"_

_A punch to the gut, he kneels over, gasping for breath. It hurt, it freaking hurt. Why did everything have to hurt? Why couldn't he just do something that wouldn't hurt? Poor Tony, he had to go through all of this too. He could officially call himself a torture survivor if he ever made out of this, which he would._

"_You makin' teh boss mad chum."_

_He turns his head, Steward moves his eyes off of Peter to see one of his henchmen moving forward with a knife in his hand. He smirks._

_Then he feels an agonizing, horrifying pain in his side that makes him want to scream. He won't give them the pleasure. Instead he lets out gaspy breaths and grunts of pain. The henchman frowns._

* * *

><p><em>"Peter."<em>

_Peter looks up, he's not with Steward or the other weirdo anymore, instead he's in the arms of a great superhero. Iron man. He must look stupid hanging around in a grown man's arms… but he doesn't care anymore._

_"You're okay. You're alright." He says soothingly. Oh man, he missed that voice. The face looking at him is so soft and so… different. Tony shaved. Nice. He probably showered too._

_"Tony. Didn't think you would come back."_

_"I always come back."_

_Maybe. Maybe not. Whatever. He's just glad he's here._

_"Kid, can you run over the plan we had earlier? I have to tell the big boss what happened."_

_They're moving now._

_"Plan?"_

_"Yeah. The plan. To escape. How did you escape those henchmen? You said you would explain later. Now is later."_

_Peter narrows his eyes._

_"Maybe I'll tell the real Tony Stark but… I'm not so sure about the phony Stark."_

_"What do you mean?"_

_"You aren't real."_

_The Tony Stark scowls and drops Peter to the floor._

_"Want to play like that? Fine then. A world of torture is coming for you." He spats._

_His head feels like it's about to explode._

* * *

><p><em>"Peter! These bruises! They look horrible! Where did you get them?"<em>

_Peter avoids Gwen's eyes. He feels ashamed he needed to come to her for this, but he has no one else to go to. No one else to patch him up. Aunt May would probably go ballistic if she saw him in this state._

_"I was fighting Dr. Connors. I... kind... of... you know... turned him into a lizard."_

_She stares at him. Ugh. He hates when she does that, it makes him wish he had never come to her in the first place._

_"A lizard? You mean the giant one prancing around New York?"_

_"Y-Yeah."_

_"Peter..." She sighs, "You can always tell me these things."_

_He widens his eyes._

_"Really?"_

_"Yeah! I'm always here for you! So why don't you tell me the secret formula you helped make with him?"_

_"It's simple really, it was ju- Wait. You're not Gwen."_

_She looks like she's about to cry._

_"W-What do you mean I'm not Gwen? Peter I'm your girlfriend!"_

_"Yeah right."_

_Everything fades to black._

* * *

><p>Peter opens his eyes. It's a start, a start to see a gloomy empty room, with men lying everywhere at his feet. He feels something clawing at his wrapped wrists and finally decides to see the cause. He rolls his head to the side lazily, blinking a few times even though it's a little too dark to see anything anymore, and he sees true poetry in the making.<br>It's a man, almost unrecognizable because he's completely covered in armor... but Peter knows who it is. So he finally came to rescue him huh?

He tries to lift his head up to look at the psychic lying on the ground, a needle stuck in his neck, and he looks up again. Surely, Tony didn't do that did he? Tony doesn't kill. Tony never kills. Right? Wasn't that the hero's motto? Never kill a villain or anyone for that matter so you wouldn't stoop so low where the scum of the Earth lived?

"He's awake." Says a very _female _voice. He sees red hair. Beautiful, fiery red hair, a beautiful thing to wake up to. The most positive thing he's seen ever in a week.  
>"Peter." Says Tony, he's smiling. Smiling like a dumb idiot, that's who his Tony was. Was he even real?<p>

"Hair. Nice." He says. At first, it made sense in his head until it came out. Looks like the drug was still working on him. He probably wouldn't even remember this would he?  
>"I think he's talking about you Natasha."<p>

The woman with the red hair smirks, and nudges Tony playfully on the shoulder before cocking her gun and taking one more look around.  
>"Looks like you've got charm kid, maybe you can use it on the ladies when we leave this hellhole."<br>Nah. He'll leave his charm with Gwen. She'll smile, he'll something stupid, she'll punch him, then they'll kiss. He doesn't need any other girl in his life.

_Holy hell his side hurt. He's just been straining it everyday he was here. _

"Nicceee to-... s-see you again Tony." He slurs. Tony grins.

"Couldn't just leave you here kiddo."

He likes the nicknames Tony gives him. Kid. Kiddo. Petey. It makes him feel younger than he already is. It makes him feel warm. This was one of those chick flick moments wasn't it? Gwen will laugh when he tell her. He misses her.

He's lifted up, not in that stupid weird princess carry, his arm is swung around Tony's shoulder and he stumbles to his feet. His head rolling to his side.

"I'm going to kill whoever did this to you." Tony mutters, Natasha... or at least Peter thinks that's her name, gestures towards the dead men at her feet. Peter wonders why Tony isn't saying anything about it, if it were Peter he would get angry... but if he saw Tony laying in his position... well... he wouldn't be merciful.

Tony is in his suit, fully prepared for battle. If he listens close enough he can even hear a weird electronic voice in his helmet that he guesses that no one else can hear.

"SHIELD is coming in." Natasha says roughly. She sounds as if she's done this a million times.

Tony's guiding Peter out of the room and it is then that Peter contemplates whether this is real or not. It could just be the psychic giving him another vision or something, which is not very reassuring because he _yearns _for this to be real.  
>"N-not r...real." Peter stutters, he can't struggle against Tony because he's too weak at the moment.<br>Tony looks at him, he can practically _hear _that raised eyebrow underneath his helmet.

"I assure you Peter, this is all real. Want me to pinch you?"

Aha. Humor. Funny. Except for the part where it's _not. _

"C-Can't... trick me."

"Looks like he's still under the drug." Natasha says, she's following after Tony as he supports Peter up as they're walking through the halls. They even managed to walk through a wall where a huge hole sat. Looks like Tony's anger.

"Thank you captain obvious."

Natasha says nothing and keeps her poker face on.

"Okay Peter. I'll tell you something the psychic can't. I trust you."

He hesitates and Tony groans.

"Petteee it's me! I swear!"

Peter attempts to shrug.

"I-It's n...not my f-fault s...someone in-nvaded my brain." Yeah. The person who knew everything about him in just a couple of hours died. Wonderful. He's not being sarcastic this time.

"Yeah. They're taken care of though. It's just you, me, and my buddy Black Widow now. We're here for you."

Peter nods his head limply, and struggles to follow after Tony. Even though Tony is right next to him supporting him, he feels so freaking far away from the man. It occurs to him that it's probably his fault they were moving so slowly.

"S-Sorry..."

"For what? You saved my life kid."

I guess he did.

Peter blinks once, his eyes carefully linger on his side where his old wound was bleeding out again. Looks like it re-opened itself. Maybe that's why he was feeling so tired... or maybe that's because of the drug. He really can't tell but what he can tell is that he wants to take a loonnggg nap in a very nice bed. Maybe one of those really expensive beds that only rich people like Tony could buy, or heck even _his own _bed.

"Peter." Tony is sounding worried. Did he do something wrong? "Stay with me bud."

"He's bleeding." Black Widow, _Natasha, _points out. He can hear a noise of irritation escape Tony's mouth.  
>"We'll get you out of this Pete. Don't you worry."<p>

"R-right."

They're approaching another hallway that looks incredibly long. Oh man. He hears a gun shot come from Black Widow's gun, and it seems she's shooting people who are coming up from behind them.  
>"Tell me about yourself Peter or whatever just <em>talk. <em>We need you stay awake. Okay? Favorite food? Animal? Work with me here."

"I have a girlfriend."

Sheesh. Even when he's dying all he can think about is Gwen.

"Really? What's her name?"

"Gw-..en."

"What's she like?"

"Hmmm." He hums softly. "She's pretty."

"Yeah? What else?"

"She's... gorgeous."

"You already said that kiddo."

"Her e-eyes shine like diamonds and she... she... I love her." He mumbles. His eyelids are feeling so heavy now. Just make the pain go away.

"Peter. Stay awake." Tony demands. His voice stern. He wants to listen to him but his body is screaming something different. "If you stay awake, you'll get to see her again."

Now that's something to look forward too. Seeing Gwen again. He would watch her hair sing in the wind, her fingers carefully stroking his face, and her eyes staring into his.

"S...She... we h-had a fight b-before I came here."

It was all starting to sound familiar. Looks like everyone was having fights with people before something extremely dreadful happened.

"Oh?" Tony muses. They're reaching a door now. Natasha is just listening to them talk quietly.

"Y-Yeah. Can you tell... he..r... I love her?"

"No."

Peter blinked.

"Because you will, when we get out of here."

And before he knows it, they're outside, hundreds of men with shields that say SHIELD on it makes him want to laugh, but instead he closes his eyes. The last thing he hears is his name.


	4. Awake

_I was researching a lot for this chapter by reading a lot. _

_To Random Ray: Yes. Yes it is._  
><em>To Ekatlover: Ohohohon, I did see that. Quite clever.<em>

_To Jesusfreak: Oh how you flatter me so!_

_To my readers: A lot of you encouraged me to write this as quickly as I could, but I ended up revising it and changing a lot. Therefore I began researching the best way to write it blah blah blah all of that stuff, none of it helped by the way._

_Sowwy for grammar and spelling mistakes. *sob*_

* * *

><p>Tony watches Peter sit limply on a bed in the SHIELD helicarrier, and truthfully… he never would have thought he would have sticked long enough to even still be here. I mean he had things to <em>do <em>people to _save _even though he more than deserved a break for being tortured and… totally… humiliated. But no, Peter, he came first. Peter was the one who had the guts to totally strangle a guy and knock out two guards without any help, he was the one who had saved his sorry hide because he was too weak to even really care anymore, not until Peter had suggested they escaped.  
>After a while, he almost believed Peter could do anything he set his mind on, but when he looked down the moment he was flying away he <em>knew <em>Peter wasn't coming after him, let alone escape with him.

The first thing he did, after hearing a familiar voice speak up in his helmet, was call for help. He called Clint first, the hawk didn't answer, so then he called Natasha, and here he was now.

"SHIELD is going to want some answers."

Yeah. SHIELD could go to hell. He's thankful Natasha called them when she did but _still _SHIELD was filled with stupid idiots who wanted to ask Peter questions the first moment he woke up, it didn't even matter if he was lucid! They didn't care about Peter, they just wanted to get the job done and take down HYDRA no matter the cause.  
>"Tell them that they aren't going to get any answers until Peter is better."<p>

He gazes at the pale teen and ruffles his hair a bit.  
>"Looks like the nurses took care of you kid. You look a little better."<br>No reply, it wasn't as if he expected one, but it would still be nice to hear the kid say something. Maybe even a weird noise he couldn't understand, that would help too.

"So? Did you find his aunt?"

Natasha looks at Tony and then looks back at Peter, her eyes lingering on his face.  
>"No. She can't be found anywhere. She's missing."<p>

Tony says nothing, knowing fully well that he was probably going to be the one who would have to break it to Peter, and surely it would not end well. Breaking bad news never ended well, sometimes it even resulted in choke holds and strangles, but those were usually because Tony himself was the cause of the bad news.

"Poor kid." He finds himself saying, all he wants to do is for the kid to wake up, treat him to a huge feast, and pat him on the back telling him to go home to his aunt, but now he couldn't do that. Seems like Peter would never get any rest.

"You've changed."

Tony finds Natasha examining Tony's every move, and how unnaturally close he was acting towards Peter. Her eyes wavered on him, before turning back to Peter, and looking back at him again.  
>Tony blinks.<br>"What do you mean?"

Natasha shrugs.  
>"I mean… you're softer than before."<p>

"Wha- I am not a softy!"

"Never said you were." She says, Tony gives her a look.

"I just said you became _softer, _not that you're a softy." She explained. She knows that Tony is really only soft on the machines he works on- cooing to them- calling them his babies and his sexies. Sure he showed softness to real people, but most of the time he would just plaster a fake smile on his face as he kicks back with everyone to watch a movie. He would often show concern for another member of the Avengers when they got involved in something deep and he would come to their aid most of the time, and that's just enough proof they needed to know that Tony was more than a billionaire playboy, he was _Tony Stark. A human being. Like them. _

Tony let his eyes drift to the metal walls that stood tall despite their ugly appearances.

"Guess he rubbed off on me." He mumbles, he leans over to check Peter's face again for any different sign. He would have to call Peter's girlfriend soon, Peter still needed to tell her he loved her after all.  
>It's odd, how much they've bonded in a week, but I guess when you think you're at the end of your life you tend to share everything with a complete stranger, it's like how you can just give your whole life story to a stranger sitting on the plane only because you know you probably won't ever see them again.<p>

Except he excluded a few things from his back story, like what his arc reactor was, and what had happened in that cave and the car charger, but at the same time he's pretty sure that Peter has a few secrets of his own. It was most probable that he had only heard a tiny piece of Peter's story, and was it weird to say he wanted to know more?  
>He shakes his head at his thoughts, and looks to see if Natasha is watching him, but she's not… she's watching Peter with ever so steady eyes. He wonders what she finds so interesting, but he won't ask.<p>

Then she changes the subject.  
>"Cap heard about everything that happened. He's coming aboard in an hour."<p>

Tony stops thinking, stops breathing, and now he's absolutely sure that he's probably looking a bit lost standing by Peter's side.

"Did you call him?" He asks, Natasha looks hesitant but she nods.  
>"I heard what happened between you two, and I'm <em>sorry<em>."

Hearing an assassin/agent/spy apologize to him was almost unreal. He wants to just bring a finger up to his lips and shush her but he doesn't. Maybe he just needs her to talk to him about it, he hasn't really talked about it to anyone, not even Peter.  
>"That kid. Steve was so mad that I didn't save him, but I <em>couldn't.<em> He was already long gone. Steve blamed me." He tells Natasha, although it's for his benefit that he's reciting it all out loud.

"Hmm." Natasha hums. "He was really worried you know. He even felt guilty for yelling at you and he blames himself for you going out to HYDRA by yourself without him."

He probably looks so different standing there hopelessly, listening to Natasha wearily. But Natasha looks different too; it's odd seeing her so stiff and still under the light, and she seems to be incredibly tired. Usually, Natasha never looks tired, she always looks like she could kick butts every single day without rest.

He's still nervous, about seeing Steve again, because even though the two were nearly best friends he didn't want to encounter him or have to say 'we need to talk' to him. A memory arrives, of a Steve who was absolutely shocked at Tony's behavior when he had first met him, and he remembers how awkward Steve looked when he first walked around the Avengers tower for the first time. Thor looked the same way, actually. Everything was new to the thunder god. The only people who took it all in quite normally was Clint and Natasha, but they were SHIELD agents for crying out loud, and because of this they did weird things, like how Clint basically _lived _in the vents of his tower.

It isn't long before Tony realizes that he's not thinking about Peter, Natasha, or Steve anymore, but rather all of the Avengers all together as a team. That's the place he wanted to go back too without a change in everyone's attitude towards him, without someone needing to tell him 'he's changed.'

"So… what… really happened?" Natasha asks, had she always been so restless? It was hard to know for sure.  
>Tony looks at her blankly, memories flashing before his eyes, and sighs.<br>"I was tortured. That's it. Nothing to talk about."

Natasha narrowed her eyes. Now _that _was a look he was familiar with, the Black Widow 'you better tell me' look.

"I know there's more to it." She says, and Tony just knows that she was probably put up to do this by Nick Fury. He probably wanted her to weasel information out of him, and no doubt would she report back to the big one eyed pirate.

"I'm not saying anymore than I've already said." Tony says defensively, Natasha does nothing to acknowledge anything he's said so far, but instead she turns and mumbles, "I'll leave you alone for a while."

Tony watches her walk out, and even though she's gone he still keeps his stiff posture.

He turns to Peter.

"Looks like it's me and you kid against the world."

He thinks it's partially true because Peter had been through more things with Tony than his Avengers at the moment, after all, they were just most recently formed, and they had recently discovered HYDRA was still in business. Steve was the one who took the news like a hit with a bat out of all of them.  
>He hears something rumble, and he's noticed Peter turned his head, just slightly, as if trying to listen to what Tony was saying.<p>

"Hmmm, I'm that interesting am I?" He muses. Peter does nothing, but he can tell that if Peter were to reply, he would probably laugh.

* * *

><p>He was eternally grateful to the person who brought a chair in for him after he had finally gotten tired of standing over Peter like a creep, and he had sat on the chair with a sigh of relief. Even though the chair was hard and made of metal it felt <em>so <em>much better than sitting on the floor for a week straight. Peter was probably thinking the same thing as he laid on a comfy bed. What Tony would give to be in his spot right now, he looked so _comfortable_ while Tony was getting a stiff neck _and _back.

He's been watching over Peter for a couple of hours ever since they first came aboard the helicarrier, mostly because he can't trust anyone who comes near Peter, but other than that… he was sticking around because he was just fond of the kid.

While doing nothing, Tony decides to focus on the wall in front of him, examining every crack every little line or spot on the wall, and then he tries to focus on the flickering light, counting how many times it flickered.  
>Tony doesn't usually do this. Right now, he could be in his lab, working with dummy and on a replacement arc reactor but instead he was sitting in a dull room by Peter's side.<p>

But what's even more important, is that _someone _needs to change that light.

He brings out his phone, which only has a quarter of a battery left, and he knows he should save it for more important matters but he's just so _bored. _Maybe if Peter could keep up a conversation with him, maybe if Peter were awake, he wouldn't be as bored as he already was.

He's tempted to play on his phone, but in the end he tucks it in his pocket responsibly.

"Such a pain." He mumbles, stretching out in his chair, cracking his back along the way. It felt so refreshing, and he wished he would have the feeling to stretch again but he doesn't so it's not really worth it.

It's then, someone knocks on the door. Tony doesn't answer, so when the door opens a face sticks in, an incredibly familiar face.  
>"Tony." It addresses.<br>"Steve." Tony grumbles. He needs coffee, he also feels rude for calling Steve an _it _in his mind.

There's a long silence sitting in the air between the two, and Steve is standing awkwardly near the door. Even though he looks big and bulky he looks way much younger, almost like a kid, as he fumbles with his fingers near the door.

"I… wanted… to apologize."

Tony looks up.

"I'm sorry. For everything." He mumbles, now he's rubbing the back of his neck, "And I… I'm not so good with this but… yeah. Sorry."

"You're forgiven."

"And I know you might not forgive me for this bu- What?" Steve looks genuinely shocked and Tony laughs to tears.

"You're forgiven idiot!"

"I thought this would be harder…" Steve admits, Tony shrugs.

"All is forgiven."

Steve sighs in relief. Tony is hearing a lot of sighs today.  
>"Thank god. I thought you would… I don't know… get mad at me and go on a rampage?"<br>Tony shakes his head. He wouldn't do that, not in front of Peter, even though the kid was sleeping.

"It's fine Steve, chill."  
>Steve smiles and Tony smirks. He said <em>chill. <em>Heh. He's so funny. Steve didn't notice it did he? He's such a sly dog, but Tony has to be honest here. He didn't think he would forgive Steve so quickly, but since he had time to think… his anger for Steve yelling at him had completely dispersed as he had constant nightmares and Peter to talk to after everyone of them.

"So this is the guy?"

Tony doesn't know who he's referring to until he looks back at Peter.

"O-Oh yeah." He stumbles. This was Peter.

"Natasha told me he helped you escape… that's all I know."

"He's done more than that." He says. It's true. He'll leave it at that.

Steve walks up to Tony and looks at Peter, he looks aghast at the sight of him.  
>"He's just so-... young. Why would they involve him?"<br>Steve is looking angry now, thank god he isn't the host of the hulk.  
>"I'll explain it, if Peter wants me to… I… just want him to get better."<p>

Steve gives Tony a sideways glance before looking at Peter again.

"Are you close to him?"

_I guess you could say that. _

"A little. I mean, he's more than an acquaintance now."

"What's his name?" Steve asks, Tony is happy to answer.

"Peter."

He says Peter's name with such fondness that it almost knocks Steve off of his feet. Peter himself though, shifts in his sleep after an hour of laying still, and Tony wonders if he could hear him. The beep on the monitor on his heart monitor was enough proof though. Whatever he did, it made Peter stir from his slumber. So he tries again.

"Peter? Are you there buddy?"

A couple of more beeps. Recognition. Interesting. Steve is only watching.

"I know you're supposed to have beauty sleep, but if you could wake up that would be _really nice." _

Peter groans like a sick child. Steve is completely amazed at this development, Tony can tell by the look on his face. He's just _staring _at Peter like how Natasha was earlier, and it's then that he decides that even though Peter didn't know these people, they were drawn to him, even in _sleep _which was a pretty amazing thing. I guess it was because of the effect he laid down hard on Tony, maybe that's why they were noticing Peter more than they would have, had they just seen Peter walking on the street or hurt because of some mutant monster incident.

"That's right kid. Tony is here." He reassures. Peter opens his eyes.

* * *

><p>Give him a pill for the pain please. He'll have to grab one later because this pain is unlike any other he has ever felt. His head was pounding, but I'm sure you already know because he's reminded you a couple of times. His side, burned, burned like that he had just set the world on fire and was incredibly sorry about it. He doesn't know how else to describe his pain, it's overwhelming though, and he can't even bother to focus on opening his eyes when he was too busy agonizing over his own pain.<p>

"What's his name?"

_Peter. _He wants to say, but he can't say it. Instead someone else says it for him.

"Peter."

Whoever this person was, he seemed to care for Peter. Peter feels at ease around the two voices all of a sudden, and relaxes a little, not even realizing he had been stiff as a board.

"Peter? Are you there buddy?"

Yeah. He was here. What's it to you? Did he need to go and save New York city again? Oh man, what a _drag. _Couldn't New York city stay safe just once? Maybe not, after all, this city was enough trouble as it is. It was filled with diverse people, foreigners, and people who have traveled across the world just to get a job in a big office building that crowded over the small little houses and other small buildings.

"I know you're supposed to have beauty sleep, but if you could wake up that would be _really nice_." Says the voice, Peter groans and is tempted to wave away whoever was talking to him. That's right. He was tired. Tired beyond measure. He could sleep for eternity right about now, but he's not sure anyone other than him will appreciate that.

"That's right kid. Tony is here."

_Tony? _That name was so familiar. Tony? The guy? The guy in the cell? The guy who tossed and turned, came back with bruises? Didn't he already escape without him?

He stirs, and finally he decides it might be about time to try to get a good look at the man. Maybe he was captured again, and he was stuck with Peter and another weird prisoner. That's what it felt like.  
>With much struggle, he opens his eyes, only to close them again and open them once more. The light- as gorgeous as it was- was absolutely blinding. He couldn't even see the faces lingering over him.<p>

"Mmm. Five more minutes." He grumbles, gripping the blanket over him and turning over his side. He feels someone gently grab his shoulder and shake it a little.  
>"Don't go to sleep on me Peter. We need to talk."<p>

Talk? What was there to talk about?

"Your aunt. We can't find her."

He shoots up.


	5. Leave

_I made a Tumblr (the link is on my profile) , so if anyone knows any good Spider-man, Avengers, Batfamily, or any cool blogs period... I would really appreciate it if you could share them with me (dude, if you reblog any of those stuff count me as a follower), I'll also take **prompts** and stuff because it looks like a lot of fun writing for other people.  
>Anyways, I have no answers for anyone today, but I will thank everyone for the favs, follows, and the reviews! Guys, seeing my inbox completely full gives me an immense happiness! Thank you for allowing me to feel such a feeling.<em>

_Earlier I had written like 3,000 words, and then when I click save my computer crashes and man was I infuriated. I couldn't write anymore because... ugh. I was just so mother french toasting angry at my computer. I wanted to smash IT INTO BITS. I STILL DO. But since I'm a nice person, I'll leave the baseball bat in it's corner, and save my computer from it's demise in order to bring you this chapter. This chapter is a little shorter than the others. Well, maybe not as short as chapter three, but definitely shorter than the other chapters which are usually up to 3,500-3,600 words. This chapter is 3,208 words. 3,248 counting these words. Whoops it's 3,253 now and- Okay I'm going to stop now xD_

* * *

><p>Peter is never sure if things are as small as they seem or if it's just his panic that seems to dwarf them. When he sits there, feeling the eyes of the two men next to him, they seem to shrink into the background as he stares past them in shock. Aunt May. So they went looking for her? At the mention of her name, memories came running into him at full blast, and he just doesn't want to think about her anymore or about the horrible things she could be going through at the moment because she was his family. His only. living. family. No one can ever say he didn't try to protect because all he ever tried to do was protect her from everything he was released to. He didn't want this to happen.<br>He never wanted any of this to happen but here he is now. He's living through his nightmare.

He swallows air, a sign of his distress, and that's when he feels a comforting hand make it's place on his shoulder, almost as if it _belonged _there.  
>He looks up, Tony is there by his side, and is it weird to say he feels relieved to see him? He doesn't pay much attention to the blue eyed man next to Tony, because all he can focus is on is <em>Tony. Tony. Tony who was at his side. <em>

"It's okay Peter. We wouldn't want you to open that wound of yours."

_Right. __He's hurt. __He almost forgot._

He lets Tony push him back down, and Tony ruffles his hair fondly after that. It feels nice. Having his hair ruffled by Tony. If his aunt saw this, what would she think? He settles back onto the fluffy pillow, and that is when he begins to read the people next to him.  
>Tony, looks tired, as tired as he looked when he was stuck on the floor eating disgusting horrid food, but he looks cleaner now. The little pieces of hairs sticking all over Tony's chin and under his nose were wiped off clean, and his hair was much smoother than it was when he had last saw it. He looks better. That's good.<p>

"A-Are..." Peter begins, he's surprised how scratchy his throat feels, "Are you guys l-looking for her?"

Tony nods and when he sees someone put their hand on Tony's back as a reassuring gesture, he finally realizes that there's another person in the room who might actually be _important, _so he gives the man a thorough examination until being completely taken back by who was in the room with him. Captain America. He's wearing the suit and everything, but he was lacking his shield. Peter wonders what happened to it.

"Yeah. We don't think she's in New York Pete."

Steve catches Peter's gaze and smiles. What Peter would give to hear what that man was thinking at the moment, thinking about him, thinking about this very _situation. _What was his opinion on all of this? He looks back at Tony and stares, Tony shifts.  
>"And now that you're awake, you need to prepare. The moment SHIELD agents find out you're awake they'll question you without mercy." Tony says, trying to lighten up the mood, and Peter appreciates the effort although it does nothing.<p>

Questions? Greattt. Just what he needed. His head hurt enough just thinking about what could be happening to his aunt, but now he had to answer questions? Well, I suppose it was expected, because he had known that if he were to ever escape someone _somewhere _would question him on what happened, whether it be the police to the FBI or to just one of those local news stands.

"Peter I _assure you_ everything will be fine."

Since it was Tony who said it, he almost believed it, but he knew better than that. Nothing would be fine, as much as he wants to believe it because nothing ever turned out fine with him. Nothing. Nothing at all.

Peter says nothing, but instead looks at the captain again, before Tony realizes he hadn't introduced the two even though the two had heard only a little about the other. He coughs and holds his hand out, gesturing towards the cap.  
>"This, is Captain America, Aka Steve. We just call him Steve. And Steve, this is Peter, kid saved my life. Peter, Steve. Steve, Peter."<p>

Steve smiles.

"Heard you saved Tony's life. That was a brave thing for you to do."

He couldn't help but feel bashful at the flattering words Steve gave him.

"It was nothing."

No. It was _something. _He just wanted to hear Steve correct him and say that very thing.

"What do you mean nothing? You _saved _Tony's life."

Peter sits up slightly just to sheepishly scratch his head.

"That's probably nothing in your line of work." He mumbles, he knows it's wrong, being a hero himself, but what else can he say? Steve is about to say something, but Tony interrupts him by taking Peter's head and locking an arm around it, only to rub his knuckles against his head. A noogie. The very thing only uncle Ben would do to him. It brought back memories, so all Peter could do was grip his hands around Tony's arm.  
>"Hey stop that!" Peter says, it hurts.<br>"It's just nice to see you're feeling better punk." Tony teases, Peter rolls his eyes.  
>"SO when are they going to ask me questions?"<p>

Tony lets go only to stretch.

"Probably when a nurse comes in. I didn't want to press the button because they would probably question you non-stop. I know how that can feel. Especially after getting hurt."

Peter almost forgets Tony is a billionaire. Anyone with a lot of money, fame, and glory have that ability to attract the press even if they don't want to. How Tony does it, he'll never know, or maybe he will when he gets home.

"Thanks."

"No problem kid. Oh. By the way. Brought my phone with me so you could call your girlfriend."

Tony digs into his pocket and tosses it to Peter who catches it with incredible ease.  
>"Wha- Now?" He stumbles. Was he even ready for this? Did he even want to talk to Gwen? He feels horrible, how could he possibly call her when he wasn't ready at all for this?<br>"Yeah. Now. You're awake, so might as well."

Peter stares at Tony who raises a brow.

"Go on."

Peter then glances at Steve, who says and does nothing, so with a sigh he brings up the phone and dials Gwen's number. It isn't long before he brings the phone up to his ear, and he hears a signature _Hello? _  
>He gulps.<br>"Gwen."

It takes a few seconds, but he hears Gwen reply stiffly, "Peter?"

"Hey."

He was never good at driving on a conversation, not as Peter Parker, but Spider-man on the other hand, his alter ego, didn't have a problem talking and yipping about. Where he gets it from, he won't ever know, but it was a part of him.

"My Go-... Peter?" She repeats, Peter is smiling now.  
>"Yeah. It's me."<br>He can hear crying, it's enough to know that she still cares for a weirdo like him.  
>"Where have you been!? I- I visited your house and it was completely wrecked!"<p>

A surge of anger shoots into his veins. Someone had ransacked his house? The very house he grew up?

Peter clenches his sheets.

And Aunt May was most likely there while it happened.

"I was kidnapped." He says as if it's the most simple thing in the world.

"Peter, I, I'm so _sorry." _Gwen sobs.

"It's fine. I mean- I'm sorry too."

"Where are you?!"

Apologies already shared, Gwen changes the subject, if it isn't obvious, it seems like she wanted to see him right away. Peter doesn't blame her. After all, if she had been kidnapped, he would want to see her right away to see if she's okay. Peter turns to Tony, who seems hesitant to share where they are. Maybe it's information they can't really share.  
>"I don't know. I just know I'm in some... sick bay."<p>

"What happened to you?"

"I... was..." Does he say it? "Tortured."

"P-Peter... I..." She's at a loss of words. He shakes his head even though she can't see him do so.  
>"It's not your fault Gwen, I was an idiot. I promise, the first moment I make it out, I'll come to see you unless something restricts me from doing so."<p>

"Promise?"

"Promise."

* * *

><p>Peter remembers when he was smaller, the local authorities came over to talk to uncle Ben about something, he doesn't quite exactly remember what it was about but he remembers fearing for the safety of his family and his own welfare. Police officers were taught to be the good guys, but they were so intimidating at the time that he could hardly ever think they were the good guys because they didn't seem concerned for his family in the slightest. They were only doing their job. That's all.<br>He's met some good cops, some bad ones, and he's met some that were stuck being police officers even though they wanted to do something greater with their life, or just plain out change their jobs because they weren't happy with the ones they already had.

He was six at the time.

"Tell me what happened from the beginning."

Nick Fury, who he had just been acquainted with a few minutes ago, was not like the police officers or any authority figure he's ever known. He's a one eyed man, with rough eyes, and a big fat frown sitting on his face. He was strictly business, and if Peter looked close enough he could see years of experience written within his eyes. Maybe one day he'll have that look in his eyes, and no one will know why.

"I was walking out of school, I was going to go home, but a man knocks me out and before I know it I'm put in a cell with Tony Stark."

Yes. That's it. Keep it nice and _simple. _Complicating things would only make it harder on the both of them.

"Why did they kidnap you?"

"If I tell you, will you tell anyone else?"

He lets his eyes linger on Nick's, who is staring straight at him like he was some kind of idiot. As if _that _in itself should be a very obvious thing.

"We're a government facility. We don't go _sharing _classified information."

But what if he tells them, they document it, and some stranger with an IQ twice his own hacked into the SHIELD database just to get a good look at his files? That would be dangerous wouldn't it? So should he really share his information? Does it even matter? Somehow those kidnappers had found out that he had helped Dr. Connors even though he hadn't recorded it _anywhere. _If the information was free somewhere, would it really make a difference if he told Fury one of his secrets?  
>Guess he'll have to make the leap.<p>

"They wanted a formula."

"What formula?"

"They wanted a formula I helped create with Dr. Connors, you know... the guy who turned into a giant lizard..." He trails off.

"Do you know why?"

"No."

"Are you lying?"

"No."

It happens quickly: Fury brushes his wrist against his chin, mumbling something weird, and quickly putting his own wrist away. Maybe he had some communication device on his wrist or something. That would make sense unless he was just mumbling to himself for no reason. I guess that could happen too.

"Do you know why Tony was there?"

Hadn't they already asked Tony that question? Should he even really be answering questions that he himself didn't fully understand? All he knew was Tony was captured so they could interrogate him about the Avenger's secrets and weaknesses, and how to hack into SHIELD without getting noticed. Maybe... Tony hadn't told him the whole truth.

"I don't sir." He lies. Tony will have to thank him for this later.

Nick Fury stays silent for a while and does nothing while he's at it. He just sits there stiffly, not even shifting into a more comfortable position.  
>Peter starts to finger the pants the nurse had given him earlier, telling him he couldn't meet up with Nick Fury in a exposed hospital gown, and he had agreed. He certainly wouldn't want to be caught dead in the hospital gown, waltzing around some government's secret base's hallways with an exposed <em>everything. <em>That would be absolutely embarrassing. At least earlier he had been covered by blankets.

"How were you tortured?"

Peter widens his eyes. This was a delicate question, and for Fury to ask it like it was nothing made him incredibly nervous.

"You don't ask him questions like that!"

He twists in his chair and the big metal door keeping him in with Fury was quickly opened only for Tony to barge in, two flustered guards following after him, trying to push him out.

"You already asked him everything you wanted! But asking him how he got _tortured_?" Tony spats, "That's just going too far."

Fury stares at Tony, unamused, clearly, but that doesn't stop Tony from continuing on.

"You've already asked enough, just let the kid go."

After all of the shouting and yelling from Tony, Peter wonders why he's suddenly gotten so protective over him. It's such an odd feeling that he'll mention to Gwen later. Probably when they met up again. It was heart warming to see Tony stick up for him nevertheless, even though Peter was _sixteen with the full capability to take care of himself. _He had planned to speak to Fury like an adult, and he thought he was doing a good job until Tony came in.

"Peter. Let's go."

Nick Fury doesn't do anything to stop Peter, so Peter reluctantly stands up, and Tony grins.  
>"Come on. I'll show you the tower and everything. Let's just leave this place."<p>

Peter thinks, if he was older, and went to college... then Tony would definitely be his bro from college. They would sneak out past curfew together, do stupid things together, show off their cars to each other, and even their girlfriends. They would go to the arcade and then hit the comic book shop like the geeks they were. Maybe that life would be better than this one, because at the moment this life completely sucked. If he had been born in a completely normal world where no one had super powers... would things be better? Aunt May would still be here. Gwen and Peter would still have their fights, but they would completely make up after that with a date to go out and crab a cone of Ice-cream.

Oh how he yearns for something he's not allowed to have. For something that could have been in a different world, but will never be no matter what he does.

"Let's ditch this place."

He looks at Nick Fury, who nods, and Peter takes this as the chance to follow after Tony who storms out, mad for Peter's own welfare. It is then that he is told that they are on a giant flying base called the helicarrier that somehow was never seen by the citizen's of New York unless something serious was having, and then he's introduced to the private jet Tony ordered to fly towards them, apparently his AI, JARVIS, had auto-piloted it to the flying SHIELD base. Anyone could count him impressed.

"We'll go to my tower first. Oh _man, _you're going to love the people there. You already met Steve and Natasha, but we have this guy named Thor, he's incredible, oh and Bruce Banne-"  
>"Bruce Banner?" Peter questions, he seems fazed by the name. Tony Stark knew Bruce Banners. Tony knew Bruce Banners. Tony <em>knew THE Bruce Banners. How cooler could this possibly get?<em>

"Yeah... are you a fan or something?"

Peter nods his head almost eagerly.

"I've read many of his papers. They're... interesting." He finishes. Not the best he's come up with, but he was sick and hurt okay? Give a man a break.

"There's also a guy named Clint. Don't be surprised if he pops out of a vent. He likes scaring people that way."

Even if Peter hadn't known, he was sure that he would be able to sense Clint the moment he jumped in front of Peter, mostly because of his spider-sense.

"And you can meet my girlfriend. Pepper. She's spectacular." Tony speaks with much fondness, leaving Peter to wonder what exactly Pepper was like. She sounded interesting, with what little information Tony had given him. The only things he knew about her was that she was spectacular, her name was Pepper, and that she was Tony's girlfriend. What else could she be?

"What about Gwen? I told her the minute I got out, I would meet up with her unless something restricts me from doing so."

Tony thinks about this and waves the idea away.

"Come on man, just visit the tower for a couple of minutes, they we can go see your girlfriend."

"Erm... we?"

"Yeah. I'm going to see the girl that makes you all blushy-feely." Tony tries his best to describe, Peter just laughs.


	6. Gwen

**Explanation of my absence later. Right now let's get to the chapter.**

* * *

><p>The idea of seeing Gwen in person scares him. It's been… a long time. Too long. He loves Gwen, he really does, but was he ready to face her? At all? He really didn't know but whether he liked it or not he <em>promised <em>her that he would go and see her right when he got out. He would have to face her sighs quietly before turning his head to look at the man besides him. Tony Stark. Never in his life did he ever picture himself sitting next to Tony Stark. Well, he didn't picture himself sitting with any rich popular people period. He was just Peter Parker, average teenager, with a secret like everyone else.

**"Five minutes until landing sir." **Says JARVIS. Peter had met him a couple of minutes ago when he had first boarded one of Tony's private jets. Apparently JARVIS is Tony's AI butler, his best friend, and one of his creations.

"Great JARVIS. Please tell Pepper we're on our way." Tony mumbles. He's gazing outside the window now, staring into the city below. "Peter. Sorry you got dragged into this all."  
>Peter inwardly scoffs. He got into trouble for a <em>living. <em>This was nothing. Well, actually, this was more than nothing. His aunt was missing. He had kept her safe for so long, _so _long, but now she's gone. Gone just like that. Because of him. Because of his carelessness. It's not Tony's fault he's here or anyone else's fault. It's all his damn fault and now he has a feeling he's going to be guilty about it for the rest of his life.

"It's not your fault."

"Yeah but- I mean- this must be hard on you."

"Yeah." Is all Peter can say. Being a superhero is hard. Being a vigilante is hard. Protecting people, _including your family, _is very hard. He signed up for this job. Tony signed up for this job. The Avengers signed up for this job and there was no running away from it. They chose a path that does not allow you to back track. No. All you can do is go straight forward or stand still for a while until you begin walking again.

"But we'll find her. Right? My aunt?"

Peter looks at Tony.

"Right." Tony answers.

* * *

><p>Peter saw a woman waiting for them the moment they landed. She had that nice fiery red hair that you don't see often, even in New York which was filled with people of all different shapes and sizes.<br>"Tony." She addresses. She's only staring at Tony and _only _Tony who happened to be wearing a big grin.  
>"Pepper!" He calls out. Peter is left standing next to Tony's jet as Tony runs up to Pepper who, unlike Tony, was <em>not <em>wearing a big grin.

The moment he's within her reach she raises a hand and slaps him.

"You IDIOT! Going off by YOURSELF!? We need to TALK mister! Now getting out of this! And oh go-... Tony." She trails off, looking off at Peter. While Tony is stuck trying to comfort his own cheek.

Pepper is now _walking toward Peter. God save him. _Was she going to slap him too? He really wanted _none of that. _He wasn't ready for this! Not yet!

"You're Peter right?"

Peter blinks.  
>"U-Uh yeah!" He stumbles. Pepper is much taller up close. Almost like a model, he observes.<p>

Within moments he's in her arms getting the air hugged out of him. Relief boosts throughout his system and confusion all at the same time.

"Peter. If it wasn't for you Tony wouldn't be right now. Thank you _so _much."

She lets go of him but then places her hands on his shoulders and smiles.

"That idiot probably wouldn't have survived without you."

His eyes travel away from her and set on Tony who was still standing in place absolutely shocked. If he wasn't right next to Pepper right now, he would snicker, but that was pretty inappropriate at the time so instead he just soaks in all of Pepper's words.  
>"Thank you." She repeats again.<p>

"I... I wouldn't really say I _saved _him..." He mumbles. Pepper catches him off guard with a scoff as she lets go, and promptly grabs Tony by the collar of his shirt and drags him towards a door. "Well he certainly didn't save _himself." _She calls out, then motioning to the door. "Come on, it's time we gave you the grand tour of the Stark tower, otherwise known as The Avengers tower! Get moving!"

A couple of things he has collected so far about Pepper, as he follows after her, is that you should _not _mess with her. That results into absolute disaster. Secondly, she was scary when she wanted to be and she was nice when she wanted to be. In just the past few minutes he was on the rooftop with her he understood immediately that she could fully handle herself. I mean, her slap was enough to _stun _Tony Stark. How cool is that? He needs to tell his friends later, and as in friends he means Gwen. The only person he could talk to about all of this weird... stuff going on in his life.

In mere minutes they're in an elevator going down. He doesn't remember which floor Pepper called out to JARVIS but he guesses it doesn't really matter. He wasn't even really paying attention anyways, not until Tony finally begins to speak up.

"You _slapped _me!" He cried. Pepper rolls her eyes.

"Yes. Now stop acting like a over-grown baby."

"Bu-But..." He whines, looking over at Peter. "You slapped me in front of Peter! I was trying to make an _awesome _impression."

"Well maybe you have had come to see me **earlier **I could have slapped you without Peter watching."

He sighs.

"Anyways, Bruce is here. As is both Thor and Clint. They're all gathered in the family room." Pepper tells Tony.

"Family room?" Peter repeats.

"Family room." Pepper says again. "That's what we call the room that all of the Avengers hang out in."

His eyes might as well have popped out of his skull that moment.

"Wait so they all _hang_? Like bros?"

Tony smirks.

"Yeah. Didn't you hear me talking about movie night earlier?"  
>"You didn't mention it."<br>"I didn't?"  
>"No."<br>"Oh. IN that case. Movie night is when all the team gets together to watch a movie. We watched Star Trek last time."

Peter widens his eyes. Sometimes it was easy to forget that men and women protecting the Earth were all human too with complete human hobbies an- wait. Thor isn't from this Earth. He's a god. Why would he watch movies with them? But anyways, even Peter who happened to be your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man forgets sometimes that heroes all need breaks even though _he is a hero. _He's just like them just... well... less known. Unlike them he didn't have the resources to go traveling around the world to save it, let alone into _space. _Sheesh. He could only stick in his home-town New York, where people are continuously in danger. Where people couldn't protect themselves.

"Well, since they're all gathered I can introduce you to them all."

What would his uncle say to him now. Holy cow. This is just insane.

The elevator doors click open and Pepper walks out. Full confidence in her trot as Tony follows on her heels.  
>"Peter. Come on."<br>Peter doesn't need to be told twice. He follows as well.

"Tony?"  
>It's an unfamiliar voice, but it's probably a voice he would remember for the rest of his life. It's not often you hear the voice of a hero.<p>

"You bastard. Leaving us that long."

Once he peeks from behind Pepper and Tony he can see three figures sitting on the couch. One promptly typing away on his laptop, another playing with an arrow in his hand (which he automatically presumed to be Hawkeye), and a great big bulky man with blonde hair that looked like he could be a wrestler.

"Oh? So that means you missed me Clint?" He laughs casually. Clint doesn't do the same. Instead he scowls.

"You scared the crap out of us Tony. We've been searching for you **everywhere** and suddenly you just pop up and say you're just fine and that you're coming back? I want answers. I want to know what happened."

Tony stays silent. That's odd.

"I usually don't side with Clint..." A voice trails off. It's the guy with the laptop. "But he's right."

The bulky guy stands up and reaches out to give Tony a bone crushing hug before letting go.  
>"We have missed you man of iron. I would by lying if I said I did not wish to know as well."<br>"Al-ight Thor." Tony struggles, "You can let go now"

The man then lays his eyes on Peter.

"And... who is this?"

Tony coughs then gestures towards Peter. Now, unfortunately, he has the attention of everyone in the room.

"This is Peter. He saved me."

"Wow. For you to admit that aloud has got to be something." The man with the laptop chuckles. "So he's the one we have to thank for your safety?"  
>Tony nods.<p>

"Yeah. He even got beat up for me. Poor kid has had a rough time."  
>Peter is tempted to roll his eyes but does not. Hellooo everyone, he's right here, listening to this conversation! He's not a hologram!<p>

"Hello Peter. I'm Bruce. Bruce Banner."

Oh. H... He's Bruce. Bruce Banner. Nice... I mean... HOLY. This. THIS. How was he supposed to react?! I mean- hero- right here! Scientist! Genius! Hero of SCIENCE!

"The name is Clint kid. Better remember it."

"And I am THOR! God of THUNDER!" Thor shouts at the top of his lungs, then giving Peter a bone crushing hug too, leaving him to stumble the minute he was let go. "It is an honor to meet you! You are among friends now!"

"I-... You too." Peter stutters. He's a little dazed... meeting these magnificent people at the moment. Please just give him a minute of brooding and angst and he'll be perfectly fine.

"So tell us young Peter. What happened to you and Stark?" Thor begins. Peter was preparing for this and opens his mouth before Tony promptly places a hand above it leaving only muffled words to escape his mouth.  
>"No Peter. I'll do the explaining."<p>

He lets go.

"Well I happened to fly over a Hydra base on pure accident and they began shooting me!" he lies, "And suddenly BOOM! Caught! Guilty! After a while I meet Peter and voila, he comes up with an escape plan and gets us out of there like missiles."

"Why was Peter there?" Bruce questions.

"Ah! Glad you asked! Hydra grabbed him because they thought I need a cell mate. They were going to make him an example to me." Tony lies even more. Peter doesn't understand. He would really like to know why Tony is lying about the whole story, but somewhere in his head he is thankful he didn't tell them about his whole... Dr. Connors incident. That was not something you really tell to others without permission.

"... I don't believe you." Clint came out. Tony scoffs.

"My story is as true as the moon landing!"

"Don't some claim that the moon landing was all just a scam?"

Tony gasps.

"The moon landing was _not _faked. That's just a stupid conspiracy. You don't trust conspiracies! Ever! The moon landing is as real as you and me!"

After Tony's bold speech the Avengers all laugh at him and tell them how much he missed him. They have a whole reunion with him that makes Peter... honestly feel a little tinsy out of place. Now all he wants to do is leave. He obviously does not belong.

"Not to be rude Tony but... Gwen?" Peter says. Tony's eyes brighten.

"Of course! I almost forgot. Let's go."

"Go? But you just came here!" Bruce complains.

"Nice to know you guys can't survive a minute without me!" Tony bursts out laughing, "I'll be back in due time. We just have to pay someone a visit."

* * *

><p>After that nice reunion with the people he didn't really know so well, Peter finds himself at Gwen's front door hesitating to knock. The car was in the drive through, that <em>probably <em>meant she was home... but... was he really ready to face her?  
>"Oh come on. Just knock. You know what? Never mind I'll do it." Tony says. It is then that Peter fully understands that Tony is here with him at Gwen's front porch. She was going to freak out.<p>

Tony knocks then sticks his hands in his pockets.

It wasn't long before he heard the noise of a lock clicking open. Just a door away from his girlfriend. The only thing standing between them was a door. A damn door.

The door opens roughly, hitting the wall roughly after Gwen swings it open, and then her face softens.

"Peter! Peter! I-... Oh my gosh. I can't believe it's you!" She starts breaking into hysterics, roughly grabbing Peter and pulling him into her embrace. Peter returns the embrace without hesitation. Suddenly, this didn't seem like a bad idea.

"I missed you s-so much. I-I just can't stop blaming myself for all of t-this." She sobs into Peter's shirt. Peter glances at Tony out of the corner of his eye who was raising a brow.

"And I..." She continues. Peter just rubs her back, tracing small circles for her comfort when she finally starts to clam down.

"None of this." He says, "Is your fault."

That was enough for Gwen to finally let go and look at him in the face.

"You'll tell me everything right? Everything that happened?"

He flinches. Everything? Even the torture?

"Yeah. I will."

Great. Making even more promises. He really needs to stop doing this. But Gwen seems content with his answer so he thinks that all is well. Even if it's just for now.  
>"And... who is this?" Gwen questions, pointing towards Tony. Tony smiles his million dollar smile and reaches out his hand to shake. "Tony. Tony Stark. I can't believe you don't recognize my face."<p>

What a cocky bastard.

Gwen's eyes widen.

"What do you have anything to do with this?"

Tony grins.  
>"Peter here was stuck with me in a cell."<p>

Gwen places a hand over her mouth.

"I- I'm so sorry Mr. Stark. It must have been hard for you."

"Nonsense. Peter's company made it all the better."

There he goes again. More lying. Peter is pretty sure even while he was there that Tony was pretty miserable.

"Is that true Peter?"

Peter nods. He'll just play along with it for now. _For now. __  
><em>

* * *

><p><em>Okay guys. That's the end for now. Now for some explaining. Firstly, I've had an extremely busy couple of months. I've been sucked into another family's life and recently the parents of this family just got divorced. If you've been through or seen a divorce happen you know how chaotic this can get. It's pretty... well... no matter how many times I see it... it always doesn't look nice.<em>

_As for the moon landing, I don't believe it's faked and I won't believe it's fake until the government admits it. There. Done. Now onward._

_All of my previous documents of the previous chapters have been deleted by accident so... I really can't go back and fix my mistakes. I've learned my lesson._

_As someone stated earlier I keep changing tenses in my writing. I'm sorry. That's a REALLY bad habit of mine. I'll try to fix that up._

_And finally... I'm back babies! I'll try to update regularly again. Please forgive me. I don't want to be one of those authors that leave their stories forever and ever and never return to them, leaving people to agonize over the fact that they're favorite story will never update anymore._

_Anyways, um... I think I had one more thing to say... Aha! I feel like I've rushed this... this story. I realllyyy like stories that take their time and have awesome character development, I aspire to be a writer that learns to have the patience to write in such a way... but for now... I don't think I'm anywhere close to reaching that level at the moment.  
><em>

_A little explanation for this chapter- Pepper knew about Peter because Tony told her about him- and The Avengers knew about Tony's arrival because Pepper had told them. But she did NOT tell them about Peter. It must have slipped her mind at the time. _

_I own nothing  
>Grammar and spelling errors are not on purpose. <em>


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